"Omelet" wrote:
>
>I personally like to send dinner guests home with leftovers so always
> make sure I have some of those "disposable" containers on hand prior to
> cooking. The relatives especially. I sent them home with more
> leftovers than I kept for dad and I yesterday, including some of my clam
> dip.
>
> They always seem to appreciate me doing this, and heaven knows there are
> tons of leftovers from holiday dinners! Yesterday was not a holiday,
> but I just felt like grilling and when I grill, I tend to grill a LOT
> since my coals last so long when I do a wood fire. Wood fires last a
> whole lot longer than charcoal fires! Sometimes up to 12 hours...
>
> Anyone else send dinner guests home with "doggy bags"?
>
>

Rarely.

If you're purposely preparing far more food than is necessary for your meal,
and specifically to give to guests to bring home, then that is not left
overs, that is gifts... like my brother loves my potato salad, so I make
extra just for him anyway, all packed and in the fridge waiting for him,
ustta do the same for my father with soups and stews, but those are not left
overs, those are care packages. My criteria is any uneaten food I can't
save or there isn't enough worth saving that I can toss out for the critters
is not left overs, the scrapings from plates becomes critter chow too...
once had a big argument over that with a family of guests at my cookout
because I caught them scraping their platefuls into my trash container on
the sly, they obviously piled on far more than they could eat and were
attempting to disposed of it in a sneaky manner, whole burgers off their
kid's plates... their tossing it into the trash added insult to injury.
Needless to say those kind of food wasting guests never get another invite.
Even meat trimmings from plates gets tossed out into the yard, makes a great
meal for the crows and ravens, they don't leave a speck, they'll eat all the
fat trimmings and pick bones clean. Those birds swoop off with their
bonanza way out to the edge of the woods (they don't eat near to people) so
I never find the bones, and there are plenty of nocternal critters that
crunch up and eat those bones.

In my experience most food sent home with guests ends up in their trash...
they're usually too embarrassed to refuse if left overs are thrust upon
them, especially in public, so often it never even makes it to their home,
gets tosed out in some trash can before they get home... I'll bet no one ate
the clam dip, probably sat in their fridge for two weeks and was tossed
container and all when they noticed the stink... only someone with an eating
disorder is going to spoon down a container of dip the next day. Most
doggie bags taken home from restaurants never gets eaten either, sits till
it stinks. I don't like to take other peoples cooking home... if it wasn't
all scoffed down during the dinner it wasn't all that good anyway. Maybe
someone can give me an example of what sort of left overs they're talking
about, I can't imagine many items that are actually left overs... I mean
like if there's 1/4 of a pie or cake remaining I can eat that over the next
day or two so it's not left overs anymore than the remainder of a 1/2 gallon
of ice cream that goes back in my freezer... do your guests consider your
left over booze something they should bring home. And if you're preparing
extra specifically for certain guests to take home because you know they
love it, like I do for my brother and father, then it's not left overs. And
I don't consider what I didn't carve off a roast left overs, just goes back
into my fridge for me and my cats... and naturally the first time around my
cats got fed first, and the best parts... the guests got their left overs,
cats eat before me... and if they didn't get fed first then they'd not let
anyone eat in peace, once their bellys are full they go off to wash and
sleep... unlike dogs cats don't over eat, cats don't hang around begging
either.... cats are royalty, dogs are common serfs. LOL